Thermostatic valve



Apr. 24,1923. 1,452,723

C. H. ATKHNS THERMOSTATIC VALVE Filed May 13, 1920 IN VENTOR, altar/e6 HJ7. all 1'11;

A TTORNE YS.

Patented Apr. 24:, 1923.

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CHARLES H. ATKINS, or PALMER, MAssAcHusErrTs, Assre von "r mama,

srnmnnnn COMPANY, or SPRINGFIELD, MASSACHUSETTS, A conronn'r on' orMASSACHUSETTS.

THERMOSTATIG VALVE- I Application filed May 13,

To all'whomit mag concern: H ,7

Be it known that I,- C RLE H. ATKINS, a citizen of the United States ofAmerica, residing at Palmer, in the county of Hampe 5 den andCommonwealth of Massachusetts, have invented. certain new and useful Imu provements in. Thermostatic Valves, 1 w of which the following is aspecification- This invention relates to improvements in devices orapparatus vfor automatically opening and closing a valve 'for thepurpose of supplying water to sprinkler systems as. used at the presenttime indepartm'ent stores,

factories ,'a'nd manufacturing "plants of various kinds. Broadlyconsidered, the device is controlled by, means of athermostat which maybe accurately adjusted to operate. atja,

predetermined temperature; whereby the 0011- trollingvalve may beopenedand closed and the supply: of water. turned'on or 'ofi".

,An objectof this improvement is to provide a device that willautomatically open against the water supply pressure-and" close with thepressure. further object 13' to QReferring tOthedrawingsr :Fig. l is anexternal plan viewo'f the device;

v Fig. 2'? is avertical sectionalview on-the lin:e 22 of Fig. lshowingtheinterior con struction of the operative partsand an upper:

and lower spider arm insectio'ni designates a plug forclosirigthebottom-of the casing and for furnishing an openingfor are shown in' theplan view in Fig 1 which are securedto the correspending number-lotarmsbelow these arms, by means off-the. screws '9, 10, and 11. 12designates the valve or packing elementwhichmay consist of any suitable.material, as fibreor rubber, This vpacking is held in place on the valvestem- 13- bymeans of thedisc-shaped member 14 and nut 15 which isthreaded onto thepro: J jection 16;- The 'stem 13 is vformed with an-Referring to the drawings in detail z and, 2 designat the supply anddischargepipes' whichareconnectedto the valve cas1ng 3'.-'- Lmachining-the valve seat and assemblingthe valve; Connectedto the valvecas1'ng3 by;

hree spider arms 6, -7, and; 8

1920.. serial not-381,104.

inclined. orconical shaped portion 17, the

ing 18 in the bridgeor partitionpiece 1 9 of the valve, casing. ,Thepurpose lof forming this part of the stem conical shaped is to causetheival've to close or seat without pro;

ducingfwaterhammer ornoisei; This isfaccomplishedf by gradually reducingthe size ofthe port 18.as the valve moves onto its seat. a Referring nowto the thermostatic constructibnof the sprinklerivalve, 2O desighatesthe threaded upper'end of the valve stem. onto which isscrewed the,piece 21 having the sleeve portion 21, and to'which is secured thelower di-aphragnrdisc member 22 by' spinning or brazing them'etal aboutthe edge ,ot-the openingin the member '22." The sleeve portion 21 has asliding'movement in the fixedwouter'sleeve 23 which is formed-withfathread. on its outer surface]- and threaded-into an opening in-thecenterv of-the huh-portion- 24 of the upper spider 1 member. The outersleeve is lockedorheld' in its adjusted position by means of the cap:piece 25. Theupper diaphragm discfmem'' benQGisseouredto the fixedsleeve23 in;

the same manner as'alreadydesc'ribed: in corn;

nection with the lower disc member 22. 2 2T designates aQcIOsing plug'for' the upper end of thejo-utersle'eve 23. Thisplug pen mitstheintroduction of the volatile liquid to thelspacje between the'diaph'ragms'; the

liquid flowin downward through the open a ing 28 and out through theopening 29 into the space between the diaphragms. The nut 29 securelylockstheidiaphragmsiand sleeve 23 to the valve stem-l3. By revolving thediapl'iragmsfthe sleeve 23 is rotated in the threaded openingnofthehubmema her 24 thereby providing accurate means for positionin'gthevalve on its seat.

In practicethe device is-preferablyso sitionedthatthe pipes l and 2stand in avertical position, The volatile liquidin the,

diaphragm mayyif desired, only'partially fill'the interior space. f i

The noperationmay be described as follows: f The parts normally are inthe positions shown with the valve closed on itsseatl Should a firestart, 'and'the temperature of the surrounding atmosphere be raisedto atdefinite predetermined temperature,-;say 1'80}? the volatile liquid inthe diaphragm will cause the members 22 and 26 to'eXpand or separatecausing the valve 12 to be moved outward away from its seat andagainstthe i move but will cause the other disc member 22 to move a greaterdistance. The*valve 12 will remain openas long as the temperature of thesurrounding atmosphere is above the predetermined temperature, at whichtemperature the instrument or device 1s set.

When the temperature falls the' parts will again assume" their normalpositions, and the valve 12 will close with the pressure. As

the valv moves towards its-seat, the conical 'o-r'inclined surface 17'will gradually shut off the fiow or rush of water, thus finally bringingthe valve to its seat without any perceptible noise.

again after being wholly or partially extinguished, the apparatus wouldaga n operate to furnish' the water for the sprinkler sys tems; thusbeing at'all times automatic in its operation, and would not require theduties of an attendant to open and close valves in the piping system.Another important feature is that the valve 1s automatically retained onitsseatby the water pressure, therebyrendering the device more reliableand preventing its being accidentally openedunless moved from its seatby the action of heat on thevolatile liquid.

The sleeve portion 21 slides downward in the fixed sleeve-23', whichservesas a means the upper' end 1. In a mounting for a double walled exl pansible diaphragm chamber,a fixed sleeve to whichthe outer wall ofthechamber is secured. and a movable sleeve to which the other wallissecure d, the latter sleeve being slidably'lt'icated within the fixedsleeve for the purpose of tt'urnishing' means for aligning thelattersleeve and for filling the space between the diaphragm:

2. The combination, in a thermostatically controlled valve, ot'a casinghaving a port therein, supply and discharge pipes connected to thecasing, valve for the port, means foroperating the valveincluding adouble walled diaphragm chamber i filled with a volatile expansibleliquid and connected to the valve, a fixed and a movable sleeve, one ofthe diaphragm walls being fixed and the other wall movable, the movablewall being connected to the movable sleeve which is mounted for movementin the fixed sleeve, and the fixed sleeve providing means for adjustingthe diaphragn'i and valve relative to the valve seat.

3. In combination, a valve casing having a single port therein, asuitable valve there for, a valve stem, a normally fixed but adjustablesleeve, a movable sleeve within said sleeve, a movable diaphragmexpansive chamber enclosed by two walls, one wall of the chamber beingconnected to the valve stem and movable sleeve, and the other wall tothefixed sleeve,'the movable sleeve providing adjustment of the stem andvalve and as a guide for one end of the stem.

4. In a thermostatically controlled valve,

I 5 the combination, of a valve casing, a valve An important-feature ofthe present 1nvention is that in case the fire should starttherefor, astem attached to the valve, a diaphragm chamber having two walls spacedfrom each other to receive-a volatile fluid, one wall being connected tothe stem, an adjustable hollow sleeve to which the other wall isattachedand having communication with the interior of 'the I diaphragm, saidhollow sleeve providing means to adjust the valve with relation to itsseat, a spider construction in which the stem and sleeve are located, aplug for closing the stem, and a second hollow sleeve attached to theste and movable within the first sleeve a 5. In a'thermostaticallycontrolled valve,

the combination, with the valve and its stem, of devices for operatingthe valve, said devices comprising a thermostat having double walls toform an expansive chamber, an adjustable sleeve to which one wall issecured, a freelysliding sleeve located within said sleeve and towhichthe other wall is secured, the valve stem being also secured to thelast mentioned wall, whereby upon expansion of the walls the valve willbe operated.

6;. In a thermostaticallycontrolled valve structure, the combinatiomot adouble walled expansible diaphragm, one V-wall'ot the same being fixedand the other movable, a casingin which'the valve is located, supply anddischarge pipes connected to the casing, a valve seat -having an openingtherethrough, a single conical shaped valve sup porting member wit-h itsbase'part located in the opening when the valve is in its closedposition, to close the opening, a valve stem vwhich is connected to themovablewallv of the diaphragm, the. construction and arrangement beingsuchthat upon I the outward movement of themovable wall the its seat andthe conical shaped member will mer action.

7. In a thermostatically controlled valve structure for liquids, thecombination, of an enclosing casing formed With'a valve seat having anopening therethrough, a valve therefor, a conical shaped member to Whichthe valve is connected, the valve being located on the pressure side ofthe seat and the conical shaped member having its base part graduallyclosethe opening to preventhamin and partially filling'the opening ofthe valve seat and the apex part of the cone extending away from thepressure side, means including a thermostatically operated dia-' phragmforoperating the valve, the con-- struction and arrangement beingsuchthat i as the valve moves to its seat with the pressure of theliquid. the base part of the cone L will gradually close the opening inthe seat to overcome hammer action, as described.

CHARLES H. ATKINS.

